“Allah has prepared a severe punishment for them. Evil indeed is what they used to do.”

“They have taken their oaths as a shield and barred others from Allah’s way, so theirs will be a humiliating punishment.”

And so on to the end of the surah.

His words, “They belong neither to you nor to them,” are like His words:

“Wavering between the two, belonging neither to these nor to those.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The hypocrite is like a sheep wandering between two flocks, going to one at times and to the other at times.”

Allah Most High said:

“Have you not seen the hypocrites saying to their fellow disbelievers among the People of the Book, ‘If you are expelled, we will certainly leave with you, and we will never obey anyone against you. If you are attacked, we will certainly come to your aid’? But Allah bears witness that they are indeed liars.”

“If they are expelled, they will not leave with them; if they are attacked, they will not come to their aid. Even if they do come to their aid, they will certainly turn and flee, and then they will receive no help.”

“They fear you in their hearts more than they fear Allah.”

And so on to the end of the verse.

He also mentions them in Surah al-Munāfiqūn, saying:

“When the hypocrites come to you, they say, ‘We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah.’ Allah knows that you are indeed His Messenger, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars.”

And so on to the end of the surah. And (the purpose is to show how frequently the Quran mentions the hypocrites and their characteristics. The “hypocrites” are outwardly Muslims. During the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the hypocrites observed the outward rulings of Islam—particularly in the later period—to an extent that many hypocrites who came after them did not. This was because of Islam’s strength and ascendancy at that time through proof and the sword, in fulfillment of the words of Allah Most High:

“He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth